


The Falcon & the Frog: Wind on the Mountain

by Tricksterwolf (GreyofAgarhoth)



Series: The Falcon and The Frog [3]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Dino Thunder, Power Rangers Ninja Storm, Power Rangers Turbo
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21805825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyofAgarhoth/pseuds/Tricksterwolf
Summary: Set in F&FII-verse, an AU where, after a kick in the butt from Kim, Tommy and Adam form relationship that lasts a lifetime. However, this story is about their “Little Brother.” Although, he's not so little anymore. And a certain Air Ninja and his whole team are going to be introduced to a Ranger reality beyond Blue Bay Harbor at Turbo speed.
Relationships: Ethan James/Conner McKnight, Hunter Bradley/Cameron Watanabe, Jason Lee Scott/Trini, Justin Stewart/Shane Clarke, Tommy Oliver/Adam Park
Series: The Falcon and The Frog [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550143
Comments: 7
Kudos: 13





	1. A Stormy Mountain

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I completely re-envisioned Storm Chargers layout. Store sets on TV are always stripped down for the sake to filming. I've set it up a bit more realistically.

Justin Stewart drove through Blue Bay Harbor enjoying the sunny, warm California weather. After the last few years living in Massachusetts for school, he was happy to be back on the West Coast. Justin’s father had moved back to his hometown just over a year ago after getting sick of the corporate rat race and being offered the chance by his original sensei to take over his dojo. Justin shook his head with a rueful smirk at the thought . . . of course his dad would move here just a month before Lothor attacked. The family’s move to Angel Grove when Justin was still just a child had gone much the same way.

Thankfully the Power had provided, and the Ninja Rangers had defeated Lothor a little over two months back. Justin could still sense the fading ambiance of the Space Ninja’s dark powers lingering about the town; but that was just a side effect of having been a Power Ranger himself since age 13 and having only gone less than six months in all that time without powers.

Justin knew that having had powers since the early days of puberty had altered him. His new job working for Billy would have him acting as both researcher and subject, determining just what those changes were, and maybe gleaning something that would benefit humanity either directly or in the form of better Rangers. However, that would not start until after a six-month sabbatical ordered by his new employer. For now, Justin was going to enjoy the first vacation he had since age 14.

Oceanview, Blue Bay Harbor’s main street, flowed down out of the residential neighborhoods in the hills towards the beach and then made a nearly ninety degree turn to follow the bay line north. As Justin pulled up to the intersection his impulse was to turn south, the road that way being called Bayside Ave. But he felt a tug to the north . . . and given that he had just been thinking about his Ranger powers and their associated instincts, he followed the tug. Heading inland, Oceanview was dominated by boutiques, bistros, fine dining restaurants, and offices. Once it began following the line of the beach the road became a haven of diners, clubs, tourist traps, and the other businesses one would associate with a beach front.

The tug became strongest at a storefront near the end of the strip, before the road began climbing into the bluffs that framed the harbor. As he pulled into a parking space and the jeep’s engine shut down Justin looked at the sign and smiled. Storm Chargers appeared to be a shop catering to the extreme sports set; if the groups of people in surfing gear, motocross clothes, or carrying skateboards were any indication. Justin patted the dashboard of the jeep before he jumped out and headed for the entrance.

The scene inside the store was contrived chaos. Monitors covered one wall, showing extreme sports events. Trophies won and events held under store sponsorship took up another wall, and merchandise was everywhere. However, if one took a minute to take in the store collectively, the eye easily found specific areas of the store relating to each sport to which it catered and a clear line to the counter. The owner knew their business and clientele that was certain. 

However, it wasn’t any real interest in sports which brought Justin into the store. Moving out of the way of the entrance, Justin centered himself and then easily sensed what it was that drew him here. There was a blond girl over by the surfboards wearing blue and a brunette visible in the mechanic’s area at the back wearing yellow. 

Justin let out the breath he had been holding, relaxing as he realized he had managed to locate at least two of the local Rangers. He smirked; Tommy and William were going to be pissed. The entire time they were active his big brother and the leader of Lightspeed had been, both separately and together, trying to contact the Ninja Rangers without success to offer their help. All it took for Justin to find two of them was to wander around the city. Shrugging mentally to himself, Justin considered the fact that this team had done just fine on their own, and that Tommy and William were just control freaks.

Returning to the matter at hand, Justin continued to scan the store, looking for the third signature he sensed. The general presence reminded him of Tommy, TJ, and Andros so he started looking for a guy in red. It took a minute, but then he spotted a dark-haired guy from behind, wearing a red and white tank and red shorts standing with a crowd at the skateboard display in the same area he sensed a Power signature. Justin had just begun formulating a plan on how to introduce himself to one of the Rangers when the guy in red turned around . . . and Justin’s brain and heart suddenly stopped working as all the blood required for their operation rushed someplace else.

Ninja Red was HOT. He was muscled and slightly stocky of build; a prime weakness of Justin’s if the hormone-fueled fantasies featuring Jason he had in his early teens were anything to go by. He had a definite Pacific Islander cast to his skin tone, with dark eyes to match his hair. Justin checked to make sure he wasn’t drooling.

“Hi, welcome to Storm Chargers,” a voice snapped him out of his ogling. “Can I help you find anything?”

Justin looked to the source of the voice and found the blonde he was certain was Ninja Blue, “Um, no . . . uh, not really.” Justin blushed and scratched the back of his head. “Sorry, my mind was somewhere else.” The girl glanced along Justin’s former line of site and smirked but didn’t say anything. Justin quickly added, “I actually just moved to Blue Bay and was driving around, and the store seemed interesting.”

The girl smiled, “Well, I’m Tori. Welcome to Blue Bay Harbor.” She offered her hand.

“Justin,” he responded, taking the hand. Tori covered well, but Justin could see her respond to the split-second jolt when their hands touched. She was still all smiles, but he could tell she was now studying him, trying to figure out what it was she sensed in that moment.

“Now Storm Chargers,” she said, continuing the conversation, “has pretty much everything you could want for the extreme sports set.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Although, I’m more about cars than bikes and boards.”

Tori considered that for a moment, and then commented, “Well, we’ve got some vanity stuff over with the moto parts . . . plate frames, shift knobs, peddles, that kind of thing, but that’s about it for cars.”

Justin smiled, thinking about what his “jeep” would think of a vanity license plate frame . . . Storm Blaster complained enough as it was about their disguise as an ordinary vehicle and the license plate that went along with it. He also smiled with the rather guilty pleasure of keeping another Ranger in the dark about his identity when he knew hers. He admitted to himself it was a little mean, but out loud he said, “Well, none of that is really my style either. Like I said, I was mostly curious about the town and this place seemed to have a lot of folks my age hanging around.”

Tori covered it fast again, but she saw the lie. On a day like today there were a lot more places along the beach front with much higher densities of people their age. Even with all his years in martial arts and as a Ranger, Justin just barely noticed the subtle shift in her weight distribution and posture. Tori had definitely decided that she didn’t like how the little details of this exchange were adding up. 

First looking at his watch and then turning back to Tori, Justin said, “But unfortunately, I have to get going. Lots of unpacking still to do. Nice to meet you Tori. Maybe I’ll see you around.” She nodded and Justin exited the store, climbed into his jeep, and drove back the way he came . . . catching sight of Tori exiting the store and watching him go in his review mirror.

===========================================================================

Tori waited until she could see Justin pulling out of the parking space before she moved. Thankfully, she still didn’t actually work at Storm Chargers, she had just gotten into the habit of jumping in when the store was busy. It kept Kelly from having to hire extra staff that would spend most of their time standing around. In return, Kelly slipped Tori some cash under the table every so often. The arrangement allowed Tori to feel like she wasn’t taking up space in the store just hanging out. It also allowed her the ability to take off whenever she felt like it.

Tori exited the store and watched Justin go. She then turned and ran the opposite direction, around to the alley alongside the store; from there she streaked to the roof. Now with Justin still in her sight, she reached into her tank top and pulled out the pendent with the Academy symbol on it. Pressing it between her fingers she said, “Tori to Ninja Ops. Cam, please be there.”

“Of course I’m here Tori,” came Cam’s reply. “I have another month of repair work to do.”

“But you already have the mainframe and the satellite feeds back up, right?”

“Of course, . . . Tori, what’s wrong?”

“This guy came into Storm Chargers. He seemed fixated on Shane, lied a lot, and I got this weird vibe from him.”

“Dark ninja?”

“I’m not sure . . . but definitely more than ordinary. Maybe I’m just being paranoid . . .”

Cam cut her off, “Or maybe somebody’s really out to get you. I’ve got the feed up, what am I looking for?”

“Blue, almost crayon blue open top jeep heading South on Oceanview, about three blocks from the Storm Chargers.”

The line went quiet, and then Cam said, “I’m not getting anything on the satellite feed.”

“What?”

“I’m not seeing anything that looks like that on the satellite feed. However, . . . okay, traffic is acting like there’s another car right where you described.”

“How’s that possible.”

“The right kind of cloaking tech.” Cam paused and then added, knowing what his friend was about to do, “Tori, be careful.”

“I will,” Tori responded as she changed into her ninja uniform, “And I’ll call if I need help.”

“Good, I’ll be monitoring.”

“Never doubted it, Cam.” Tori closed the connection and began ninja streaking from roof-top to roof-top in pursuit of Justin.

At first, Tori had thought she was just being paranoid based on the way she saw Justin looking at Shane. She could admit to herself that she was being over-protective, but Shane was finally in a good place with himself and she didn’t want to see him lose that. Shane had been in denial about his sexuality for ages, but it had never been a problem until Hunter showed up and Shane crushed big time. It was his inability to deal with the crush that resulted in most of the problems between the Red and Crimson Rangers. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until Shane screwed up his courage and made a move that things got better. In spite of the fact that it led to Hunter revealing that he only had eyes for Cam, and that the feeling was mutual. However, all that impending drama instead gave Shane people he could talk to who understood what he was going through.

Shane didn’t really try dating until after Lothor was defeated. Since then he’d gone out with a few guys, but most had turned out to only be interested in him physically and wanted to move way faster than Shane was ready for. So, when Tori had seen Justin damn near drooling at the sight of Shane she had moved to intercept. However, now she was faced with the possibility that Justin wasn’t just some guy in lust with Shane, but an actual threat . . . a threat they no longer had Ranger powers to deal with. 

As she followed him, Justin reached the intersection of Oceanview and Bayside. However, instead of turning east and staying on Oceanview, the mystery man continued south. Much like the northbound road, Bayside quickly headed up into the bluffs that framed Blue Bay Harbor. The forest restarted once one reached the top of the bluffs. Great place for a trap, but Tori was committed to the pursuit. She was still close to the water, unless he turned inland, and would be able to use her ninja powers to their fullest. Even though it confirmed her suspicion that Justin knew he was being followed, Tori thanked the Elements when he suddenly turned off road heading for the bluff’s edge.

Tori ended her streak near the road, just inside the tree line. She was familiar with this area and knew that Justin could only drive about five hundred yards before reaching the edge of the cliff. Prior to becoming a Ranger Tori, much like Shane and Dustin, hadn’t exactly been the best ninja student but even then, she had excelled at silent movement. 

She stalked through the woods, stopping again just inside the cliff side edge of the tree line, about twenty yards from the edge. Tori could see Justin’s jeep sitting in the middle of the small clearing, but there was no sign of her quarry. He could have run off into the woods, but Tori had to wonder why he would have left his jeep behind. She was pondering this question when her ninja senses warned her of an attack. Tori dived into the clearing an instant before an armored figure punched the ground where she had been standing, divoting the ground and sending out a shock wave of force.

Tori didn’t even have time to think as the figure was on her, a blue blur of punches and kicks. The ninja used all her skill and barely managed to stay ahead of the strikes, each one barely missing. Her own blows connected but didn’t seem to have any effect. Another flurry of blows caused Tori to go into a flip up and over the jeep to avoid them.

Ducking down behind the vehicle gave Tori a moment. Whoever this guy really was, he was insanely fast. Tori was amazed that she had managed to avoid his strikes . . . until a heartbeat later when it hit her that while fast, she wasn’t anywhere near that fast. He was aiming his blows not to connect! Whether to taunt or test her, Tori wasn’t sure. All she knew is that now she was angry, and an angry Water Master was the last thing anybody with half a brain wanted to mess with.

Tori gathered her power, easier here just above the roaring surf, and leapt up onto the hood of the jeep, which seemed to shake a bit under her, but she ignored it. Her opponent stopped and looked at her just long enough for Tori to finish her attack, sending a torrent of water crashing into her would-be assailant, the force of the attack blasting him back into a tree, which cracked under the impact.

Tori hopped down off the jeep, another burst waiting at her command, but he hadn’t moved yet. Now that he wasn’t moving, Tori could see how familiar the design of his armor was . . . a bright blue suit and helmet with an opaque visor. However, before she could think on that too much, Tori noticed that his shoulders were shaking, up and down. Seconds later, she could hear his laughter as it grew. However, this wasn’t standard bad guy “you think you hurt me, but you didn’t” laughter, it was genuine amused laughter. Private joke kind of laughter. Tori couldn’t help herself, “What the hell are you laughing about,” she demanded.  
Putting his hands up in the sign of surrender, her opponent stood and then, between peals of laughter, managed to say, “Power down.” There was a flash of blue light and a rush of energy. Energy that, as it washed over her Tori recognized. Now, finally, she realized what it was she sensed we she had shaken hands with Justin.

As the light cleared and Justin’s laughing face became completely visible, Tori exclaimed, “Wait, you’re a Power Ranger!?”


	2. Blue Monday

For the third time Tori punched Justin in the shoulder as they sat in the jeep, exclaiming, “That was really mean!”

“Ow!” Justin jumped slightly and started rubbing his shoulder. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry! Freaking you out like that wasn’t fair, I admit that.” He paused for a moment and then added, “It was funny though.”

Tori’s eyes narrowed and she brought up her fist up again, but relented when Justin made a sign of surrender. She was quiet for a moment, and then said, “Wow. I mean, wow, you’re really a Power Ranger.”

Justin leaned over the steering wheel and observed, “You thought you were the only ones.”

“Kinda,” Tori admitted her expression sheepish. “I mean, before we got our powers Dustin believed Rangers were real. And I eventually came to learn that Cam developed our technology by studying everything he could find on other Ranger teams.” She seemed to consider for a moment, “I guess I just never thought that I would actually meet other Rangers.”

“How much does Dustin hold believing before you did over your head?”

Tori smiled, “Not very. He’s really not that kind of guy. When he is being smug it’s about figuring out how to morph before Shane and I could.”

“Your Red Ranger couldn’t figure out how to morph?” Justin looked at her incredulously.

“Hey, we showed up late for ninja training, found the school trashed, that aliens were real, that Cam had a secret bunker under the school, and then were given about a thirty second lecture on how to be a Power Ranger.”

“So, wait, you went into your first Ranger battle having never morphed before?”

“Yeah,” Tori responded, her tone conveying she thought that was natural.

Justin seemed to consider a moment, and then said, “I guess, given what he had to work with and the situation, that would be the only way to play it.” When Tori gave him a questioning look, Justin continued, “Well, the original morphers automatically downloaded the knowledge of at least how to morph once they were given to the first Rangers, with everything else coming after they morphed for the first time. Later designs required a forced first morph to do that. Heck, the Light Speed Rangers got at least a full briefing first.”

“That would have been nice,” Tori commented, leaning on the dash. She seemed lost in thought for a moment and then asked, “So, wait, how do you know all this about other Rangers?”

“I’ve met most of them. Although, having met you I’ve now gotten the chance to meet everybody. Of course, I’m closer to the originals and Space Rangers, having served with many of them. We don’t get to see the Galaxy team very often. Mirinoi is so far away, and the population is so small, it’s hard for them to sneak off for the reunions.”

“Reunions?”

“Yeah, every year we have a get together for all of the Rangers. The date varies, depending on whether or not there’s been an active team over the last year and when they take out their baddie. This year’s is in a few months, near the end of summer if you guys want to go,” Justin offered with a smile. 

“Really,” Tori asked, and then she smiled, “Oh yeah, I think it’s guaranteed Dustin’s head will explode.” They started laughing. However, the laughter was interrupted as her pendent started beeping.

“Um . . . your breasts are beeping,” Justin observed.

Tori blushed and reached inside her tank top, pulling out the Academy pendent. Pressing it between her fingers she said, “Go for Tori.”

“Are you okay?” Cam’s voice was full of concern.

Tori smacked herself in the head, “Oh Cam, I’m so sorry! I’m fine. And you won’t believe what I found out.” Suddenly Tori’s eyes widened, “And I’m sitting in the car that doesn’t show up on the satellite feed. Oops.”

“You’re sitting in the car?”

“Yeah,” Tori was now blushing the shade of Red Ranger armor. “Look Cam, it’s really better if I show you rather than try to explain this over the comm. Will you call everybody and meet me by the lake?”

There was a pause, and Tori realized that Cam was thinking about what happened the last time she made that request. She held her breath and hoped that he would also think past that to how all that ultimately turned out. Finally Cam responded, “Thirty minutes?”

Tori let out the breath she was holding, “See you in thirty.”

===========================================================================

Tori guided Justin back down Bayside, back up Oceanview, and up into the bluffs on the opposite side of the bay. The woods were much denser on this side and the quality of the roads quickly moved from paved to gravel. “Doing this in a jeep is much nicer than in my old van,” Tori commented.

Justin just smiled as Tori directed him deeper into the woods. They eventually pulled into a small clearing off of anything even resembling a road. “Okay, we walk from here,” Tori explained. They got out of the jeep, Tori failing to notice that the engine just shut off without him turning a key. 

She led him through a copse of trees and, as soon they passed through, Justin stopped and said, “We’re being watched.”

Tori smirked, “I’m impressed you sensed that. It’s the Academy guard.”

“Been doing the super hero thing for a long time,” Justin explained. Tori nodded, and then grabbed the strap of her tank top and pulled away, shifting into a full-body ornate leather outfit. “Nice trick.”

“Had to make sure I did that,” Tori explained, “a few more feet without switching to my uniform would have been a sign that I was in trouble.”

“Good system.”

They approached the edge of a small, waterfall fed lake at the base of a cliff. Tori stopped at the waterline and looked around.

“Weren’t your friends supposed to meet us here?”

Tori let out a frustrated sound, “The last time I needed to bring someone here, it didn’t go so well . . . at first. And, Cam is prone to paranoia.”

“Maybe some proof is needed,” Justin offered. “How discrete are the guards?”

“Very. It is a secret ninja academy after all.”

“Good.” Justin reached into his pocket and pulled out an oblong silver object. He pressed a stud at the end and a short serrated shaft of metal that glowed slightly blue popped out, it resembled a key. He then shifted his weight, bringing his left arm across his chest. With a quick flick of his wrist his watch transformed into a blocky object with five flashing lights on the face. He yelled, “Shift into Turbo!” and went into a series of lighting fast hand moves, reminiscent of steering a car and the he shoved the key into the top what Tori realized must be his morpher. Giving the key a twist, he then shouted, “Mountain Blaster Turbo Power!” There was a burst of blazing blue light and when it cleared, Justin was again standing in his Ranger armor.

A yellow-tinged blur appeared out of the tree line, stopping to reveal the mechanic from Storm Chargers dressed in a yellow-lined version of Tori’s uniform. Based on Tori’s description and Justin’s earlier theory, this had to be Dustin. The wide-eyed way in which he exclaimed, “Oh my god! You’re the Blue Turbo Ranger! The real Blue Turbo Ranger!” also helped the identification.

Tori shook her head and grinned bemusedly as green, red, and dark red streaks appeared. She glanced at Justin and he removed his helmet and she then began introductions. “Well, Mr. Hyper here is our Yellow Ranger and head Earth Master, Dustin.”

Justin shook hands with Dustin and was thankful for his Ranger strength as the other man tried to shake his arm from the socket. _“He’s like a male version of Kelsey,”_ Justin thought. Out loud he said, “Nice to meet the first male Yellow.” Dustin’s grin got even wider, in clear defiance of the rules of biology.

As Justin extracted his hand, Tori moved on in the introductions by indicating a bespectacled Asian in a green-trimmed Academy uniform, “This is Cam, our Green Ranger, tech, and one of the few Samurai Masters in this part of the world.”

This handshake was much more reserved. “I studied everything I could find on your team’s tech in building ours,” Cam commented. “I assume the jeep I can’t pick up on my satellite feeds is Storm Blaster?”

Justin smiled and made a mental note to be certain to introduce Cam to Billy, “Yep.”

“I’d love to have a look at it sometime.”

“Well, that’s up to Blaster.”

Cam looked confused, so Justin explained, “Storm Blaster and Lightning Cruiser are sentient mechanical life forms. So, if you want to get under Blaster’s hood, you’ll have to ask them nicely.” The two geniuses smiled with understanding.

Standing next to Cam was a tall blond in a differently styled ninja uniform trimmed in a dark red. Before Tori could continue the introductions, Justin jumped in and offered his hand, “Hunter, right?”

Hunter returned the handshake a bit warily, “Yeah. How’d you know?”

“Well, the different uniform for starters. Tori also gave me a break down on your colors and the whole ninja elemental alignment thing, so the crimson was a giveaway. Even without all of that, you’re the only one who matches her blond and broody description.”

“Justin!” Tori exclaimed with indignant shock as Hunter glared at her. 

Cam smirked, Dustin laughed, and the remaining individual snorted. Moving to him Justin commented, “Oh, he’ll fit in fine with Ryan and Merrick. They can sit together and be distant and aloof.” Reaching the last member of the group, Justin again extended his hand and said, “And you must be Shane.”


	3. The Man in Red

“And you must be Shane,” Justin extended his hand with a smile. Shane hadn’t managed to get a very good look at Justin before he morphed, but when the Turbo Ranger took off his helmet Shane had suddenly found it hard to breathe and now the smile directed his way was making matters worse. Finally, after what felt to him like an eternity but was less than a second, Shane moved and took the hand, shaking himself internally out of his daze. Yes, Justin was attractive . . . incredibly so. But Shane considered that he was the one being attracted, so therefore he didn’t stand a chance. 

Since accepting his sexuality Shane had been attracted to exactly three men. The first was Hunter, who only had eyes for Cam. The second had been Michael, who at first seemed to be interested in Shane in return but that had only been as arm-candy to make his ex jealous. It worked; one date with Shane and those two were back together. The most recent had been Javier; who had turned out to be straight, just one who enjoyed the attention from wherever he could get it. Unfortunately for Javier, he wasn’t too bright; as evidenced by the pass he made at Tori immediately after not-so-gently letting Shane down. Tori’s anger stopped cold even Sensei’s normal lecture on inappropriate use of ninja skills.

Shane pushed all of this down, not believing for second that a hot obviously intelligent guy who just happened to be one of the earliest Power Rangers would even remotely be interested in him as anything more than a fellow Ranger, and a former one at that. Shane smiled and out loud asked, “So what brings you to Blue Bay Harbor?”

Trying to damp down his own internal demons Shane didn’t seem to notice that Justin let the handshake linger, starting his answer before letting go, “My dad’s originally from Blue Bay. He moved back here just before Lothor showed up.”  
“Ooh, bad timing dude,” Dustin observed.

“Par for the course,” Justin commented, glancing at the Earth ninja while still mostly facing Shane. “He moved us to Angel Grove just weeks before Rita was freed. And then the martial arts equipment company he was working for at the time moved him to their main offices in Mariner Bay the same week the demons launched their first attack.”

Shane, Tori, and Dustin grimaced. Cam made a pained face and rubbed the bridge of his nose under his glasses. Hunter openly face-palmed. Justin chuckled, “Yeah, he’s three for three. We’ve all decided that if my Dad ever moves again, we’re just going to set up a Ranger team in that city in advance.”

The Rangers shared a laugh and Justin took a moment to power down. The ninjas then conducted Justin across the lake and through the portal. As they appeared at the tree line on the rise above the Academy grounds Justin commented, “Quantum tunneling, nice.” Cam’s eyes lit up as Justin turned to him, “Given the diffuse event horizon, I’m guessing a magic-based system?”

Cam started discussing the details with Justin, the expression on the Samurai’s face as he spoke to the Turbo Ranger’s face caused Hunter to tense. Shane glanced between the conversation and Hunter just as Tori put her hand on the Thunder Ninja’s arm and whispered, “Relax. It’s probably a total bromance starting up, Justin’s interests are elsewhere.”

Upon hearing this Shane became even more convinced that he didn’t have a chance with the Turbo Ranger. However, as he considered more, he started becoming angry because the only reason he could think of that Tori would know Justin’s “interests” was if he made a pass at her. And Tori was with Blake, even with him being off with Factory Blue. But Tori seemed okay with him, which means he must have taken her turning him down gracefully.

 _“Why am I obsessing over this?”_ Shane questioned himself. _“Oh great. I’m crushing. I just met this guy, he’s straight, and interested in my best friend so of course I’m crushing on him. God I am so pathetic!”_

“Shane!” Tori elbowed him in the ribs.

“Ow! What?!” Shane rubbed his side and glared at his friend. Tori, for her part, just smirked at him knowingly.

“I was saying, oh head-in-the-clouds Air Master, that you should give Justin a tour of the grounds.”

“Oh. Sorry . . . um, yeah. Yeah, I can do that,” Shane responded, while thinking just how much torture that would be.

Tori just kept giving him that insufferable, all-knowing smile of hers. Justin smiled at him as well and said, “I would really like that.”

 _“Well, at least it will be pretty torture,”_ Shane thought. Out loud he smiled and said, “This way,” as he gestured to the path down to the practice field.


	4. When Air is as Dense as Mountain

Shane showed Justin around the Academy grounds. The Blue Ranger had been impressed with the deference the students and even the other teachers showed Shane. He was also impressed with the demeanor of confidence and control Shane exhibited at those moments . . . it beat the sullen, almost withdrawn mood the former Red seemed to be in, although he tried to project cheerfulness. Justin would have been turned off by Shane’s behavior, except Tori had both confronted him about his obvious attraction as well as warned him of Shane’s experiences with guys on the way here. He knew he would have to be gentle, move slowly. Although, asking a Turbo Ranger to move slowly was like asking the sun not to shine. When they arrived in one of the meditation gardens, Justin tried to get Shane talking about himself, “So, evil space ninja, huh?”

“Yeah,” Shane responded, warming slightly. “You know, I had really thought the whole “secret ninja academy” student thing had made me unshockable; but walking through the portal and seeing a hole in the ground where the school had been, and then being told about Lothor followed by “here’s your morphers” definitely proved me wrong.”

Justin chuckled, “I know the feeling. My “big brother,” he made the air quotes, indicating he was talking about the mentorship program, “Rocky was hurt practicing for a martial arts competition. I snuck into the hospital to see him, diving under the bed when I heard other people coming since I was too young to be in the room by myself. Imagine my surprise when not only does it turn out to be his four best friends, but they then get called by their mentor and teleport out.”

“Wow. So, how about you?”

Justin smirked, “Evil space pirate.” Shane stopped dead and looked at him incredulously. “Seriously. Divatox, Queen of the Galactic Pirate Clans.”

“Too bad Lothor’s imprisoned in the Abyss of Evil,” Shane commented, “we could lock them in a room together and answer a long-standing question.”

Justin considered it for a moment and then shuddered, “Well, thank the Power that Divatox got converted in the Zordon Wave, because the way she was with men in her evil days . . .” he shuddered again, “there’s not enough alcohol in the world to eradicate that image.”

Shane seemed to consider the concept and shuddered himself and then both young men exchanged a glance and laughed. Justin took this as a good sign and moved closer. Shane immediately seemed to close himself off again, moving away slightly and clearing his throat, “So, over this way are the dummies we use for outdoor sword training.”

Thirty minutes later Justin was starting to grow extremely frustrated. Every time he seemed to be breaking the ice with Shane, his defenses would go back up. Under any other circumstance Justin would not have tried this hard. However, with Shane there was something different. Yes, he was physically attracted to Shane, but there was more, and not just his status as an inactive Ranger. No, Justin could feel the Power in this, pushing him towards Shane, trying to forge a bond between them. Contrary to what even many Rangers believed, the Power was Aware. Justin often felt sorry for many Rangers. Having not had Zordon’s tutelage, they only understood the Power in terms of the morphing grid; as something mechanical, nothing more than a source of energy. However, Zordon had taught his Rangers that the Power was the essence of life, of sentience, of everything that was good and true in the Universe. He had also taught them that the Power had a personality and that an aspect of that personality was that it seemed to like to meddle in the lives of Rangers, so that when a Ranger sensed the Power moving in their life they best pay attention.

As Justin was musing about his frustrations, Shane’s tour led them to an enclosed sparring arena. The walls were tall and reinforced. A ledge ran around the outside of the walls. Inside was a single, open space with a sandy floor. The whole thing was open to the sky. “Interesting sparring space,” Justin commented.

“Thanks. We use this arena to demonstrate elemental abilities,” Shane explained. “We can have one or more instructors in here, and the students can stand on the outside ledge and watch.”

Justin considered the space for a moment, scuffing his shoe in the sand and then said, “Spar with me.”

“What?” Shane seemed shocked, “Justin, you’re not a ninja, it wouldn’t be . . .”

“Fair?” Justin asked and Shane nodded. “If I were anyone else, you’d be right. But I’m a Ranger and I haven’t had a good spar with someone I haven’t had to hold back with in ages.”

Shane paused, considering; trying to figure out how he was going to handle the situation. He was not helped by the fact that Justin was already stripping out of his blue and white bowler shirt, revealing the blue tank top underneath. Suddenly, Shane no longer had the option to try to figure out how to react as Justin closed the distance and spun a kick into his chest. Shane reacted reflexively; blocking the kick, grabbing Justin’s ankle, and attempting to spin the Blue Ranger to the ground. However, Justin spun with it; this had the effect of forcing Shane to jump back lest he get kicked in the chin. Justin landed, coming back in a defensive pose, grinning at Shane.

“Come on, Mr. big bad ninja-man, let’s go,” Justin challenged.

Shane looked shocked for a moment, but then a big grin spread across his face and he responded, “Oh, it’s on gear head,” and launched into a series of rapid-fire punches and kicks. Justin blocked each one expertly, and returned the favor, putting Shane back on the defensive.

Justin struck, Shane blocked, and they grappled for a moment before breaking again. “You look surprised,” Justin commented.

Shane looked chagrined for a moment, and then said, “I’m not used to a non-ninja being that good.”

“I grew up in a dojo. So, you gonna stop holding back now?”

Shane smirked, “Oh yeah.” 

He then launched into an even more furious series of strikes, kicks, and grabs, with Justin countering him. They traded offense and defense back and forth until Justin finally found an opening and was able to knock Shane away. The Air Ninja back flipped rather than falling to the ground. He regained his feet and then leapt into running on air, driving straight at Justin. The Blue Ranger reacted by grinning and then turned and bolted for the far wall, becoming a blue blur. He ran up the wall, pushed off and flew at Shane, and grabbed the other young man around the midsection, dragging them both to the sandy arena floor. They hit the ground, Shane landing flat on his back, knocking the wind out of him. Justin took the chance to pin the ninja. Once Shane seemed to recover himself Justin looked into his eyes and asked, “So, have dinner with me?”


	5. Clouds Part

Tori cautiously let herself into the apartment with her spare key. She wasn’t sure what to expect after the panicked-sounding call from Shane comprised of five words: “Get. Your. Butt. Over. Here.” However it definitely wasn’t the sight that greeted her; Shane, clad in nothing but a pair of red boxer shorts standing in the bedroom area of his loft apartment with nearly every piece of clothing he owned scattered about him as if a tornado had torn through his wardrobe. And given Shane’s status as an Air Master, a tornado was not outside the realm of possibility.

“Shane, what happened?” Tori asked in shock.

“He asked me out Tor . . . I can’t figure out what to wear . . . my hair is a mess . . . I . . .,” Shane babbled in response, smaller pieces of clothing began to rustle as another wind began to pick up.

Tori quickly crossed to Shane, took the shirt he was holding out of his hands and repressed a sigh . . . the red short-sleeve linen button-down that he had just wrung into a wrinkled mess is exactly what she would have advised him to wear on a date with Justin . . . and said, “Shane, stop and center. You’re whipping up another windstorm.”

He made eye contact with her and reflexively centered himself, causing the wind to die down. A few more blinks and Shane seemed to find his focus. However, Shane coming back into himself was not necessarily a good thing in this instance. “Did you know he was going to ask me out?” he demanded.

Tori moved away from Shane and began collecting a serviceable outfit while using her powers to increase the humidity in and around the shirt in order to relax out the wrinkles. “Ask you out? Well, I figured he’d do it eventually,” she answered somewhat distractedly while trying to find a decent pair of pants. As lead Sensei under Sensei Watanabe, Shane spent most of his time at the Academy and essentially lived in his uniform, leading to a severe lack of options in his regular wardrobe. Cam complained of the same issue with Hunter. She smiled in triumph as she found the pair of dark khakis she had forced him to buy a few months prior and continued, “If I had to guess, he decided to jump ahead and be blunt since you were being all Mr. Oblivious.”

“How was I supposed to know he was into me?”

“I don’t know; maybe it was the smiles, the flirty tone of his voice, the repeated attempts to get into your personal space.” Shane still looked uncertain and so Tori softened her tone as she put the pants and the now-wrinkle-free shirt into his hands, “Look Shane, I know your experiences with dating haven’t been great, but Justin’s a fellow Ranger. I think that’s a pretty strong indication that you can trust his intentions.”

“That’s true,” Shane agreed, “but I’m not a Ranger anymore, what could he possibly see in me?”

Tori sighed loudly, signaling Shane that she was reaching the limits of her tolerance for his self-doubts. “You know what he said to me when I made the same comment about not being a Ranger anymore?” Shane shook his head. “Once a Ranger, always a Ranger.” That got Shane to smile and she continued, “And he spent all afternoon with you and still wants to see you tonight. He must have the power to see past you mopiness.” Shane made an expression of mock indignation and Tori laughed and said, “Now, get in that bathroom and make yourself pretty!”

===========================================================================

Justin was amazed that Shane had agreed to dinner, but also a little paranoid. Not that the evening was going to go badly or that he was making the wrong choice. He was concerned that Shane would actually show up. The ninja had seemed a little shell-shocked when he said yes to the invitation and while they agreed on a restaurant and a time to meet, he wasn’t quite sure Shane had consciously processed the conversation. However, Justin decided to proceed as if everything would go as planned and began to rifle though his closet, glad he had at least gotten his clothes completely unpacked and his bathroom arranged. He narrowed his choices down to two shirts . . . unsurprisingly both blue . . . when another thought popped into his head. Pulling out his phone he hit a specific speed dial. The phone rang twice and then a familiar voice answered, “Oliver-Park residence.”

“Heya, big bro,” Justin said as way of introduction.

“Justin!” Adam exclaimed with happy surprise. “How’s it going? How’s the job with Billy?”

“Haven’t started with Billy yet. He ordered me to take a six-month sabbatical.”

“More like Kat ordered him to order you to take a six-month sabbatical,” Adam chuckled.

“Oh yeah, no doubt that one had its origins with Mom,” Justin agreed, using the title he had given Kat. Originally a signal that she was mothering him too much, particularly on the battlefield, it had become a loving nickname over the years.

“So, what are you doing in the meantime?”

“I’m staying in Blue Bay Harbor with my Dad.”

“Wait, Blue Bay, isn’t that where . . .?”

“Yep, where the last Ranger team was based.” Justin then added in a sing song, “Tommy’s gonna hate me.”

Justin could almost hear Adam roll his eyes, “You’ve already found them, haven’t you?” Justin chuckled and Adam continued, “You do realize that I have to live with him, right?” Now Justin laughed and Adam failed not to join him. “Okay, fine, seeing his and William’s reactions will be funny. You want me to tell him, or are you going to spring it on them?”

“You can tell him . . . I think I’m going to be getting a much different pleasure out of this discovery.”

“Justin, what have you done?”

“I have a date with their Red Ranger tonight.”

Adam sighed audibly, “We should never have let you keep that Turbo Morpher . . . makes you move too damn fast. Just promise me you won’t rush through this one like you do with every other guy.”

“It’s not like that Adam,” Justin defended. “Okay, yeah, Shane . . . that’s Ninja Red . . . is hot. Super hot. Islander version of Jason hot . . .”

Before Justin could go any further Adam interrupted, “So I gather he’s hot.”

“Um, yeah,” Justin collected himself. “But I can feel the Power in this one, and not just because he’s a former Ranger.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. The first time I saw him . . . it was exactly like you and Tommy described, a rush as if you were morphing.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and then Adam responded, “Okay then. Good luck and try not to move too fast.”

“I’ll try,” Justin agreed and then looked as his alarm clock. “Although, for the next few minutes I have to move at Turbo speed if I want to get ready for this date and not pull a Tommy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For my younger readers who may not be familiar with classic PR fanon:  
> -Tommy is chronically late. He improves as he ages but Zordon's Rangers never let him live it down.  
> -Tommy's memory for anything not Ranger-related is abysmal. Same deal; he improves with age, but it's a running joke among everyone who served with him up through Justin.


	6. In the Cool of the Evening

Justin desperately repressed the urge to check the time. Shane wasn’t that late; it couldn’t be more than ten minutes. He gave in and looked at his watch. Okay, it was closer to fifteen minutes. Justin sighed, maybe asking Shane out that quickly wasn’t the best idea. Adam was right, he had always had a tendency to move too fast and it had caused problems in the past. Shane was already gun shy due to his prior experiences and now Justin was afraid his blasting through the other man’s defenses had come back to bite him.

He was just about to give up when he heard his name called. Turning he saw Shane trotting up, smiling but looking rather embarrassed at the same time. “Hey, sorry I’m late . . . I probably should have mentioned that I don’t drive,” Shane explained as he closed to conversational distance.

“It’s cool,” Justin replied, hoping his relief wasn’t obvious. “So, shall we get a table?” Shane smiled and nodded.

They checked in with the hostess and were quickly shown to a table. The restaurant had been Shane’s choice, given Justin’s lack of familiarity with Blue Bay Harbor. It was one of the small bistro style restaurants that dotted the shore line featuring giant garage doors instead of exterior walls, allowing the experience of indoor and outdoor dining simultaneously. As they were given menus Shane commented, “The food’s pretty decent here, and not too expensive.”

Justin smiled and perused the menu, “Not really an issue. Between scholarships and grants I was basically paid to go to school, and Billy gave me what he called a “signing bonus” to cover the sabbatical he ordered me to take before I start working for him.” Shane still seemed a bit nervous, so Justin added, “And besides, I was raised to be a gentleman . . . I asked, so dinner’s on me.”

Unfortunately, this comment seemed to have the effect of raising Shane’s stress rather than lowering it. Justin quickly reached across the table and lightly touched Shane’s hand, “Hey, no expectations here. Just a pleasant evening on me.” 

Shane, for his part had to struggle to focus on what Justin was saying, as the simple contact of Justin’s hand on his had sent a shock through his body that felt like morphing. He quickly used a calming technique and latched onto part of what Justin had said, “Billy?”

Justin leaned back, breaking the contact. Shane was both relieved and disappointed, but it allowed him to focus on the other’s response. “Billy originated Tori’s job,” he started with a raised eyebrow which Shane took to mean that Billy was the first Blue. “He now owns a tech company called Azure Lupine.”

“Ah,” was all Shane could come up with. The tech field was not his forte, but he didn’t want to admit that he had never heard of a company that happened to be owned by one of the original Rangers.

Justin smiled again, “Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it. Cam’s probably familiar . . . and may have even ordered some equipment from them, but otherwise they’re kind of behind the scenes, doing a lot of work with NASADA and certain government groups and almost primarily in R&D. Anything that they have come up with that’s commercially available is usually released through a smaller, more focused company they either own or that has leased the rights.”

“Wow. And this . . . signing bonus?”

“In six months I head down to Angle Grove and start working for Billy.”

“Why wait the six months?”

“He . . . well, in all reality his wife, ordered me to take some time off after school.” Responding to Shane’s unvoiced question Justin continued, “She and I were involved in the same extracurricular activities,” again the raised eyebrow implied a Ranger-related meaning, “and she kinda became my surrogate mom.” Shane smiled and nodded and Justin asked, “So, what about you? Tori says you’re the head teacher at the Academy?"

Several emotions seemed to cross Shane’s face at once and then he finally responded, “More or less.”

“Huh?”

Shane sighed, “I am the head teacher, but a lot of the other teachers aren’t happy with it, even if they don’t show it. Before . . . everything happened, we were the lowest students on the totem pole. Now, we’re Sensei’s go to people. It possibly wouldn’t be so bad if it was just what happened that everyone was dealing with, but the fact is that all the other teachers, with only one or two exceptions besides Tori, Dustin, and me are from families that have been with the school for generations. All the teachers who were first generation left after it was all over, viewing their association with the school as the reason for losing a year of their life.”

“That’s rough,” Justin commented sympathetically.

“The Asian and European schools have come out okay, they basically got ignored, but the Western schools are hurting.”

Justin seemed to consider something for a moment and then spoke, “Look, I know that secrecy is one of the hallmarks of your way of life . . . but there is help for people trying to get things back on track after something like that.”

“What do you mean?”

Justin glanced around the room, an expression of frustration on his face. “Look, this will be easier to explain once we don’t have to avoid certain words. So, tell you what; why don’t we order, discuss your skating and my schooling over dinner and then we can go somewhere where we can talk more openly.”

Shane’s curiosity was almost overwhelming but knew Justin was right, if this related to the Rangers or the Ninja schools then they couldn’t discuss it here, so he responded, “Agreed. What are you thinking about ordering?”

Dinner went well and afterwards they left the restaurant together and climbed into Justin’s jeep. It was a warm night with a gentle breeze, so the open jeep was the perfect vehicle. Once they were out in traffic, however, Justin got serious again. “Okay, while you guys were active there were several people trying to track you down. The main two being one of the original Rangers and the leader of Lightspeed Rescue.”

“The Rangers in Mariner Bay?” Shane asked as clarification. When Justin nodded affirmatively, Shane followed up with, “Why?”

“To see if you needed help . . . especially with the aftermath of defeating Lothor. Hundreds of people all over the world with, if you dug deeply enough, unusual connections to each other going missing all at once, with their families seeming to know more than they were letting on, right around the time a new villain is starts attacking Earth did not go unnoticed by us. Even without all of that, it’s become policy for veteran Rangers, either informally or more officially through Lightspeed or other Ranger-aligned organizations to extend offers of help to new Ranger teams.”

Shane sighed deeply and leaned his head back against the seat, “I understand the reasons behind the policy of secrecy, but there are times where it seems to do the Academies more harm than good.”

“However,” Justin picked up, “it may not be too late to help folks get their lives back together.”

“How?”

“Got a few hours?” Justin asked with a smirk.

_“If it means spending more time with you while getting to help my people,”_ Shane thought while out loud he just said, “Sure,” with what he was certain was a dopey smile. 

It was only now he realized that Justin had driven them up into the bluffs. Suddenly, Justin turned off-road and accelerated through the woods. Within seconds the trees broke and Shane could see the edge of the cliff. Before Shane could say anything a blue glow moved along the jeep from front to back, altering its shape into something streamlined and not quite terrestrial looking. Shane started to yell Justin’s name as the Blue Ranger floored it, sending the jeep flying over the edge of the cliff . . . where it just kept flying.

“What the HELL?!”

Justin laughed, “Shane, allow me to formally introduce you to Storm Blaster.” The jeeps headlights flashed with an audible hum of power. “That means hello, by the way.”

“Uh, hello Storm Blaster.”

“Blaster and his brother Lightning Cruiser are self-aware, Power linked machines. Last survivors of a Ranger team from eons ago that bonded to me and my Red Ranger.” Justin looked over at Shane, who was holding onto the seat and the dash for dear life, “Didn’t you fly a hang glider into battle?”

Shane realized what he was doing and smiled sheepishly, releasing his death grip. He took a calming breath and opened himself to his Element . . . the Power of Air rushed into him with a force that rivaled morphing and he began to laugh. Justin joined him and they shared in the joy of flight. When Shane calmed down he commented, “Thank you. I haven’t gotten to experience anything like this since we lost our powers.” Justin blushed but before he could say anything Shane asked, “So, where are we going?”

“Mariner Bay. Lightspeed operations specifically. Speaking of which . . .” Justin hit a button on the dash and a few seconds later a voice issued from a hidden speaker.

“Confirmation code?”

Justin responded, “Azure, Beta, Alpha, Six, Zeta.”

A different voice responded, “Calling to gloat? You have my phone number.”

Justin smirked, knowing that William had likely gotten a call from Tommy after Adam shared his news, “Not at all Admiral. Actually, I’m en route with Ninja Red to have him talk to you about Recovery.”

There was a pause, and then, “ETA?”

“We’re twenty minutes out, airborne.”

“Land in the secure hangar. We’ll see you in twenty.”

“Acknowledged.” The connection cut off and Justin turned to Shane, “You may want to switch to your ninja uniform with the hood.”

Shane seemed to consider for a moment and then asked, “These people are accustomed to Rangers?” Justin nodded. “And you trust them to be able to keep secrets?”

“Yes.”

“Then, if you trust them, so do I.”


	7. On the Island

Shane sat in silence for the rest of the trip, reveling in the feel of the air moving all around him, but was brought out of his reverie when Justin said, “There it is.”

Shane looked out through Storm Blaster’s windshield and got his first look at Lightspeed Island. Situated about a mile off the southernmost of the two spurs of land that formed the bay of Mariner Bay it was a beacon of light that glowed almost brighter than the nearby city. “Wow,” Shane breathed. “How big is that place?”

“Just shy of five square miles.”

“And it’s completely artificial and just floating there?”

Justin smiled, “Yes to the artificial, no to the floating. It’s actually sitting on three massive hydraulic lifts that connect it to the ocean floor. In an emergency every building can be rendered watertight and the entire island submerges. The roof of the tallest structure ends up about ten feet below the surface.”

“How is that even possible? Given its size . . .”

“Oh, it wouldn’t work on land. But in the water a lot of the work of the lifts becomes more about stability while the majority of the actual up and down movement is accomplished through a super-sized version of the same technology that allows a submarine to submerge and surface.”

“Wow,” was all Shane managed again.

Justin continued to smirk as he activated the comm system, “Lightspeed Control this is Turbo Two, requesting clearance for final approach.”

A female voice issued from the speaker, “Switching to particle resonance scanning . . . we have you Turbo Two. Transmitting approach vector to Storm Blaster now.”

“To Storm Blaster? Why . . .”

“No way kid,” the voice from the radio cut him off, “you are not pulling another Top Gun while I’m on duty.”

Shane looked at Justin with an expression of mixed amusement and surprise. Justin responded sheepishly, “It was one time . . .”

“And it’s only going to be one time,” the controller responded over the comm, although there was clearly a tone of amusement in her voice. “Storm Blaster, you are cleared to land,” she finished, cutting the connection and prompting Justin to take his hands off the wheel, already feeling the resistance as Storm Blaster removed his control. The engine thrummed in a pattern Justin had come to understand was the living machine’s version of a chuckle.

Storm Blaster turned into the approach and for the first time, with the lights of the Island to act as a point of reference, Shane realized the vehicle didn’t bank. The entire movement and feeling was more like a car turning onto a sloping ramp. He commented as much to Justin who began explaining, “Well, yeah. Storm Blaster doesn’t so much fly as they generate a coherent graviton field that they then drives on.” Justin continued his explanation, providing Shane with a detailed analysis of just how Blaster generated the field and the physics of it. Shane was completely lost by the end of the opening statement, so instead he just focused on the way Justin’s eyes lit up and his face animated as he spewed techno-babble. In the back of his mind Shane acknowledged that he now understood why Hunter thought Cam in techno-mode was so cute. Justin seemed to wrap up just as wheels hit tarmac and so Shane pulled himself away from his study of Justin’s face and refocused on the meeting he was apparently about to walk into.

Once they were down Storm Blaster seemed to return control to Justin, who guided them to an imposing looking hangar near what appeared to be more office-type buildings and a control tower. Heavy reinforced doors opened as they pulled up, and then closed as soon as they were inside. No sooner had they come to a stop then three men, all wearing uniforms that marked them as Lightspeed personnel and all carrying buckets full of soapy water and sponges came to attention in a line in front of the vehicle. Justin smirked and commented to Shane, “Blaster loves coming here. Angela’s got about a dozen or so guys on standby to pamper them whenever we show up.” They exited and Justin gave a permissive wave and the three immediately went to work soaping the vehicle down. Storm Blaster’s engine positively purred. Justin chuckled and wagged a finger, “Don’t spoil them too much boys, they don’t get that treatment at home.”

Once joined by Justin, Shane asked, “Angela?”

“Doctor Angela Fairweather-Rawlings. She’s Lightspeed’s Cam, although she never suited up.” Shane nodded and Justin continued. “She’s married to their Green Ranger, Joel. It’s about a thirty-minute drive from their apartment to the Island at this time of night, so if they’ve already gone home I doubt you’ll meet them this trip. I’m really only expecting three or four people tonight,” he gestured towards the hangar’s side entrance, “And here they are.”

Approaching were three men and one woman. Leading was an older, slightly balding man with a mustache wearing what seemed to be a more relaxed version of a naval uniform sporting Lightspeed insignia. At his side were a tall, lithe brunette in a long sleeve red t-shirt and a blonde woman in a pink blouse and businesslike skirt with a stethoscope around her neck. Bringing up the rear was a slightly stockier blond male with intense eyes in a black t-shirt with a silvery tribal print. The three younger individuals were also all wearing large, blocky silver objects strapped to their left wrists. They met Justin and Shane halfway and smiled at Justin while then looking expectantly at Shane.

“Alright, introductions,” Justin started and gestured to each individual in turn. “This is Admiral William Mitchell, Director of Lightspeed Operations. Carter Grayson, Lightspeed Red Ranger. Doctor Dana Mitchell-Grayson, Pink Ranger and Lightspeed Chief Medical Officer. And Ryan Mitchell, Titanium Ranger. Everyone, this is Shane Clark, Red Wind Ninja Ranger.”

Handshakes were exchanged and then William led the way to the main administrative building. “We’ll go over the details of the Recovery Project in the main conference room. We have a few other parties joining us by teleconference.”

Justin smirked, “Tommy, I assume.”

“Actually, no,” William answered, “While Adam was able to get word to Tommy, he’s working on a project out of the country and can’t join the call without putting his identity at risk of exposure. Ms. Kwan will be representing the original team’s interests, especially since we understand this effort may go international. We also called Wes. The potential scale of this may require the Silver Guardians’ resources.”

Shane touched Justin’s arm, “Tommy? Ms. Kwan? Wes? Silver Guardians?”

Justin patted Shane’s hand, “Tommy would be the original Green Ranger. As well as the original White, along with being Zeo Red and the first Turbo Red.” Shane’s eyes went wide at the list. Justin chuckled, “Yeah, we call him Ranger Christmas.”

Carter interjected, “Justin calls him Ranger Christmas . . . the rest of us aren’t that suicidal.”

“He is the original evil Ranger after all,” Ryan added.

Justin scoffed, “You’d all pick on him too if you thought you could out run him. Or had plenty of blackmail material like Kim. Original Pink and Tommy’s ex,” Justin quickly added for Shane.

Shane was initially unnerved by this exchange . . . until he realized that his team behaved exactly the same way. So he shrugged and chuckled, realizing that it must be a Ranger thing and suddenly feeling very normal . . . within context. “And the others?” he prompted.

“Ms. Kwan is Trini,” Justin picked up, “the original Yellow Ranger. The Admiral here is always formal when he talks about her because she was instrumental in putting together the international consortium that funds Lightspeed now. So, in other words, kind of his boss.”

William stiffened slightly at the almost mocking tone Justin used when he said boss. Dana and Ryan smirked. Carter jumped in, helping his father-in-law save face by continuing, “And Wes is the Red Time Force Ranger and currently Co-Commander of the Silver Guardians, a privately funded security group that provides back-up security and policing for areas effected by Ranger activities and natural disasters.”

As they were conducted through security Shane tried to figure out why Silver Guardians sounded familiar. It hit him just as they were reaching the conference room. A few weeks after Lothor showed up Cam was all paranoid about a group that had offered to assist Blue Bay’s police and EMS coming in and getting nosy. That was the Silver Guardians. They had seen a few groups of them around the city during their time as Rangers, but they seemed mostly to stick to crowd control and clean-up and left his team alone. Shane conveyed this to the others.

“Yes, SOP for the Silver Guardians,” William commented. “They got a little too in the way when Time Force was active, so that’s one of Wes’ big no-nos now.”

“Then how did Wes become involved with them?” Shane asked, trying to assimilate all the information coming at him.

“Biolab Incorporated is the source of the private funding behind the SG,” Justin answered, “and Biolab’s founder and CEO is Wes’s father.”

“Oh,” was the only response Shane had. Even though he already trusted Justin far more and far faster than he had anyone else in his life he had been questioning how the prior Rangers, even with an organization like Lightspeed to help, were going to manage to help the ninjas rebuild their lives. However, between what he had just been told and the little details Justin casually brought up about other Rangers Shane was now realizing that the resources the collected Rangers of Earth had at their disposal were considerable. Once again, he couldn’t help but think that sometimes the policy of secrecy that the Academies operated under did them more harm than good. Maybe, had they been more open the other Rangers could have helped. Maybe the kidnapped ninjas wouldn’t have lost an entire year of their lives. And maybe then he wouldn’t have to feel like those who had left the Academies didn’t blame him, his team, and Sensei for that.

Shane was pulled out of his thoughts as they entered a large conference room and William pointed out a seat to him. Once everyone was settled the Admiral nodded to the Lightspeed officer standing at one end of the room next to a keypad. Most of the wall was taken up by a flat screen monitor. The officer hit a few keys and the screen glowed to life. As the images resolved the officer sat next to Mitchell and opened a laptop. On the screen two faces appeared split-screen. One was an impeccably styled woman of Asian descent in yellow. The other was a brunette man in solid black fatigues with a red cord around one arm. William made the introductions.

Trini immediately picked up, “How nice to finally meet one of the newest Rangers, even if it’s not really in person Shane.” He thanked her and her eyes shifted to the man sitting next to William, “Corporal, are you ready?”

The man barely looked up from his screen, “Yes Ma’am. All notes for this meeting are being real time updated to the Recovery Project secure server.”

“Thank you,” Trini continued. “Now Shane, let me outline for you exactly what the Recovery Project entails and then we’ll need some information from you. Or, at least as much as you feel you can give without violating the sanctity of the Academies.”

Three hours later Shane again sat alongside Justin in Storm Blaster, driving through the air back to Blue Bay. His mind was spinning. In those three hours, using just the rudimentary information Shane felt that he could share without talking to Sensei first, Trini, Wes, and William had outlined a plan that would enable the ninjas to rebuild everything they lost during their missing year. He could hardly believe it. He was pulled from his thoughts by a hand squeezing his.

“How you doing?” Justin asked.

“Honestly, a bit overwhelmed,” Shane answered. “And a bit nervous.”

“Nervous?”

“To get this off the ground I am going to have to call a meeting of the Academies. Something that almost never happens as they really don’t all get along. The connection between Wind and Thunder is entirely due to my team. Add to that the anger directed at the Wind Academy in general and Sensei Watanabe in particular   
since Lothor started out as a Wind and Sensei’s twin brother.”

“Wait . . . what?”

Shane smiled ruefully, “Yep, ours was not only an evil space ninja, but an evil twin. Do I win?”

Justin smirked, “Nope. Evil space pirate . . . and also an evil twin.”

Shane laughed, and then became serious again. “Ninja law says that once a person is convicted of using the Dark Arts and banished, that person no longer exists. This is to avoid shame to the family of the dark ninja but . . .”

“Law and emotion don’t always mesh,” Justin finished the thought.

“Yep. And I have no doubt, despite this being a Ranger thing, that a lot of the Sensei are going to be pissed I broke secrecy to get us this far.”

Justin squeezed Shane’s hand again. It was such a simple gesture but made Shane feel warm and more secure than he ever had. Shane put his hand on Justin’s in return. Justin let go of the steering wheel and Storm Blaster took over. Both young men turned to each other and moved in close, sharing their first kiss.


	8. A Clash of Elements

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [translated]

Justin had to admit that he felt a bit out of place. He was standing at the edge of a large open field on the Wind Academy grounds under a Ranger blue banner screen-printed with Zordon's lightning bolt and the Turbo Ranger insignia, flanked by two senior Wind Academy students in formal uniform. All while he was wearing a dark blue suit with a light blue dress shirt and a Jerry Garcia tie he had found that was mostly shades of blue, interspersed with streaks of red. When he saw it, he couldn't resist. 

Arrayed around the edges of the field other banners were set up at regular intervals. Each featured the symbol of another Ninja Academy. All of them were currently unoccupied except for the one other non-ninja banner. Cam stood under a bright green banner featuring the Samurai Star in a formal green accented black kimono. 

In the center of the field stood Sensei Watanabe in an incredibly ornate white kimono accented by all three colors of the Wind Academy. To his right stood Shane, with Tori and Dustin just behind them, all three wearing formal black kimono accented by their Elemental colors. Justin was looking at them in profile, as they were all facing north to an open space between two Wind Academy banners. According to Shane, once things got going that's where the Winds would stand until the meeting moved inside the main building. For now, however, it would serve as the focal point for a special portal that would link the Wind Academy to each other Academy on a pre-determined schedule. 

Justin could tell that Shane was doing his best not to fidget and to not let how nervous he really was show on his face. He had been right, even contacting the other Academies had been difficult and many of the responses were angry. Even though the various Sensei had all agreed to at least hear Shane and Justin out, the next few minutes would be the real tell. From what Cam had said the ceremonies around the arrival could go one of three ways: the Sensei of the given Academy and their Honor Guard would step through the portal at the appointed time; they would not step through the portal, indicating that they refused to participate; or, even worse, they could not step through the portal but Ninja-streak onto the grounds at the appointed time in violation of several traditions in order to dishonor Sensei Watanabe. Cam didn't seem to think the third option was likely, if for no other reason than that stunt had started several clan wars in ages past and the modern Sensei all liked to view themselves as more enlightened in that respect than their ancestors. Still, Justin shared some of Shane's nervousness, and as the time for the first portal to open arrived he had to force himself not to tense up.

Two Wind Academy senior instructors in formal uniform approached the portal space with a sense of purpose and ceremony. They, in perfect unison, performed a Chi-building kata and then released the energy, opening the portal. Everyone already present seemed to hold their breath, and then the portal rippled and out stepped two masked ninja in red-orange trimmed uniforms, bearing a stylized version of the kanji for fire. They stepped to either side and were immediately followed by an older woman in white kimono ornately embroidered with flame patterns accompanied by a man in formal black kimono trimmed in the same red-orange. As the portal closed the man stepped forward and announced in Japanese, ["I present Master Teacher Seikanji of the Flame Academy."]

Shane stepped forward and responded, ["On behalf of Master Teacher Watanabe, you are welcomed by the Wind Academy."] Everyone bowed and then Shane gestured to Cam, ["I am also honored to present Master Watanabe Cameron, of the Rokujou Samurai Clan and Green Ranger."] Cam and the Flame Ninjas bowed to each other. Shane then turned to Justin, ["And also Justin Stewart, Blue Turbo Ranger and representative of the Rangers of Earth."]

As Justin and the Flames bowed to each other, Justin was so thankful he had chosen to learn Japanese and for his apparent aptitude with languages. 

This process with was repeated as each Sensei and his or her party arrived: Niiro of the Ice Academy; Matsui of the Forest Academy; Akita of the Ocean Academy; Inaba of the Moon Academy; and finally, Sensei Omino of the Thunder Academy arrived with Blake and Hunter. Everything with the initial announcements and greetings went the same. However as soon as he rose from his bow to Sensei Watanabe, Omino strode forward smiling and took Kanoi's hand in his covering it with his other hand in a very warm and extremely informal gesture. He was similarly informal with Shane and the other Rangers. Justin spared a quick look around the circle and noted that all the other Sensei had failed to maintain their poker faces. Sensei Omino further shocked the other Sensei when, after the formal introduction to Justin spoke for himself in English, "It is an honor to meet one of the early Rangers."  
Justin responded. "The honor is mine" while feeling very thankful for the lessons on Ninja protocol and politics the Cam had given him over the last few days. So, he knew that prior to Lothor's attack that the Wind and Thunder Academies were bitter rivals. Lothor had played on that rivalry as part of his lies to convince Hunter and Blake that Sensei Watanabe was their parents' murderer. Therefore, Sensei Omino being so warm and informal with representatives of the Wind Academy was basically his way of indirectly telling off the other Sensei.

From there the next few hours proceeded as expected. A representative from each Academy demonstrated their fighting form. There was a super-formal shared meal, and then it was finally time for the meeting with the Sensei. 

They met in a large room that was usually used for training. Fresh tatami mats had been installed and the walls were hung with more Academy banners. The Sensei arranged themselves on color-coded pillows and Shane passed out the folders of information Justin has prepared on the Recovery Project and initial projections for how it would apply to the ninja. At Cam's urging it was all hardcopy, although it had been clear that even making that suggestion was painful for the tech-savvy Samurai. Justin sat to the side, near the front of the room. Due to ninja tradition this was Shane's show, he had to sell it. Justin's role was to answer technical questions and to just be present as the representative of the Project. As Shane finished passing out the folders and returned to his spot at the head of the room, Justin was able to make quick eye contact and give him what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Shane returned the smile and seemed to draw some comfort or strength from it, because when he turned back to the Sensei and kneeled on his own pillow his posture and demeanor was of the Air Master who had faced down one of, if not the most powerful Dark Ninja in history.

Hours later, and it was done. Shane had made his pitch. There were surprisingly few questions or challenges from the Sensei, and Shane had managed most of those on his own, deferring to Justin only when more detailed explanations of the organizations involved were requested. This was not a group decision; each Sensei would decide what was best for their people and give Shane their answer within 48 hours. So, for now Sensei Watanabe retired to his private study while Cam, Tori, and Dustin got the students started on restoring the grounds and buildings to normal. Shane for his part had excused himself the moment the last of the Sensei were through the portal.

By the time Shane reappeared, now dressed in civilian attire, everything was back to normal and evening was setting in. The walk back to the parking area was done in companionable silence, as was the drive until they got onto the actual roads heading back towards town. At that point Justin commented, “You did a great job today. I think the Sensei were impressed.”

“Thanks,” Shane responded with a smile. “I was too focused on just getting through it to really notice how any of them reacted, but Sensei said the same thing. But oh my god . . . I nearly lost it when Sensei Omino got so friendly and basically dared the others to get offended!”

“Hunter was giving them all an “I dare you” look the entire time.”

“Everything could have fallen apart right then, but when it didn’t that made me a little more hopeful and gave me some confidence.” Shane then reached out and squeezed Justin’s thigh, “having you there helped too.”

Justin smiled back, “You’re welcome.” Internally, he tried not to focus on the fact that not only was Shane not letting go of his leg, but the grip was fairly high up on his thigh. He tried not to read into it too much. He had been successful in going slow with Shane; the other young man’s focus on the meeting helping matters, but he was hoping things would start progressing a bit faster. And not just the physical part . . . Justin had already stopped himself a dozen times from saying three little words.

The rest of the drive to Shane’s apartment building was in silence, Shane’s hand never leaving Justin’s leg. When they arrived, Justin started to pull in front of the building, but Shane asked, “Do you want to come up for a while?”

While this wouldn’t be the first time Justin had been in Shane’s loft, there was something in how he asked the question that caused Justin’s brain to shut down as he experienced the same blood flow problem he had the first time he saw Shane, and so all he managed was, “Um, yeah.”

Once they were in the loft Justin’s questions of whether the relationship was going to progress were answered as Shane locked the door and pulled Justin into a passionate kiss. Clothes were shed, bodies explored, and Justin quickly discovered that despite Shane’s claims of inexperience he was either naturally gifted or an   
exceptionally fast learner. Justin, on the other hand, was far from inexperienced but found the experience far more intense and powerful than any before it.

Later, as the two men lay tangled in the sheets and each other Justin found he couldn’t stop himself. “Hey,” he said, getting Shane’s attention. Looking deeply into Shane’s dark eyes, Justin said those three simple words, “I love you.”

Shane’s expression was like a kid on Christmas as he responded, “I love you, too.”


	9. It's Like That Disney Song

Within twenty-four hours Shane had his answers. All the Academies with the exception of the Moon Academy would participate in Recovery, but Sensei Inaba had offered the support of her ninja. It wasn't surprising the Moon Ninja weren't going to directly participate, as they were a monastic order and therefore no one really noticed they were gone. So, they had little to rebuild after a year away other than their un-tended gardens.

For the first couple days Shane seemed to swing between panicked and businesslike. Businesslike while meeting with the Senior Teachers the various Sensei had assigned to represent their Academies or with Trini; who had arrived to handle the more detailed aspects of the plans. Near panic that he was going to fail miserably the rest of the time. Justin quickly became an expert as managing the Wind Master's somewhat volatile moods . . . especially given that those moods could occasionally stir up small tornadoes. 

Justin was in the midst of re-assuring his boyfriend between sessions when his phone made a long unheard six-tone chime. His face instantly went ashen as he pulled his phone out. Shane was suddenly calm and focused, “Justin? Babe, what is it?”

“That’s the sound our communicators used to make . . . it’s an emergency signal now,” Justin responded as a he looked at his phone, his color paling even further. Trini rushed out into the hallway.

“Justin?” her voice and expression laden with concern.

The two Rangers’ eyes met, and Justin nodded. He quickly kissed Shane who said, “Go.”

Justin bolted for the entrance and the moment he was through the door, “Shift into Turbo! Mountain Blaster Turbo Power!” There was a brilliant blue flash and then a blue blur.

Shane looked at the veteran Ranger, “Trini?” Still feeling odd that he was on a first name basis with one of the first ever Rangers.

“Tommy . . . I think Justin told you about him?” Shane nodded and Trini continued, obviously trying to maintain control of her emotions, “He got a doctorate in Paleontology a few years back, focusing on dinosaur genetics. He was working on a post-doctoral project on a small private island. Twenty minutes ago, there was a series of massive explosions on the island. Lightspeed is investigating, and they called for Justin and Storm Blaster.”

Shane turned towards the exit himself, “Oh my god, I have to . . .”

Trini grabbed his arm and stopped him, “Shane. Tommy has been a friend since we were in high school, as has his partner in addition to the brother Jason never had. I want nothing more to be out there looking for Tommy or to be at Adam’s and Jason’s sides, but there is work for us to do here.” Shane seemed uncertain and so she continued, “I know those instincts that are driving you right now. Once a Ranger, always a Ranger isn’t just an indication that you are part of a unique club; it’s a reminder to all of us that once we’ve worn those uniforms and fought those battles, that the drive, the instinct never goes away. But being a Ranger isn’t just about morphing, fighting monsters, and piloting Zords. It’s about being a hero on the small scale, like you and I are doing right now.”

Shane centered himself and relaxed his muscles. “Right. What’s next on the agenda?”

Trini smiled, “Well, unless you noticed something I didn’t, we appear to have buy-in on the overall plan,” Shane shook his head no, “so now we just need to guide the representatives through the process of identifying any specific or unique needs for their Academies.”

“Alright,’ Shane replied, squaring his shoulders, “let’s get to it.”

===========================================================================

Justin didn’t return until the next morning. He showed up at Shane’s apartment just after dawn; letting himself in, stripping, and collapsing into the bed where he immediately slid into a deep sleep. Shane had awoken as he entered and allowed him to collapse, wrapping a blanket around his boyfriend. He knew from experience that Justin would be out for a while.

The search for Tommy has been intensive and according to the updates Shane got through Trini, Justin had spent nearly the entire time morphed. While Rangers generally required less sleep than a normal person because of the regenerative effects of the Power, morphing and staying morphed did put a fair amount of stress on the body. It was why an active Ranger diet was in the five to six thousand calorie range. Justin would be dead to the world until at least late morning.

Shane just sat up in his bed . . . well, the mattress on the floor that served as his bed . . . watching Justin sleep. After the first time they had made use of the bed Justin had joked about the standard bachelor lack of a real bed. Shane had defended himself, declaring his sleeping arrangements “traditionally ninja.” That had led to a verbal sparring match, which turned physical, which turned into . . . Shane’s head, heart, and things much lower became very warm at that memory. Shane reined his hormones in, as his boyfriend’s current coma-like state left few options for dealing with them otherwise. Searching for a less stimulating line of thinking, Shane realized with something of a start that after finally leaving Lightspeed’s infirmary Justin’s instinct had been to come here, not his father’s house. Shane felt a whole different kind of warmth run through him and he curled himself around Justin and fell into a very contented sleep.

==========================================================================

It was nearly noon when Justin forced his eyes open. He was partly surprised to find himself in Shane’s bed. By the time they found Tommy and gotten him under Dana’s care Justin had spent nearly eight solid hours morphed. He vaguely remembered trudging back to Storm Blaster and telling them to take him home. Now, there was always a chance the sentient machine was editorializing with their interpretation of home, but in this case Justin didn’t think so. Communication with Storm Blaster wasn’t primarily verbal. Yes, words helped form the concept for the driver, but Blaster was primarily empathic, reading intent rather than interpreting speech. Justin rolled over and shielded his eyes from the light with his arm, while muttering to himself, “Which means I’m in deep.” He surprised himself a bit as he realized he was okay with that concept.

Justin sat up, feeling a bit of ache in his muscles and a hollowness in his core. “Oh yeah, spent way too much time morphed,” Justin chided himself. Even though Kelsey had essentially force fed him a locker’s worth of nutritional bars before anyone would let him leave, his body was telling him he was at a severe calorie deficit. Shane didn’t appear to be home as Justin rose and walked across the loft to the kitchen space. There was a note on the counter that read, “Had to head to the Academy to send off the reps. There’s food in the fridge. -S.” Justin smiled and checked the fridge; the normally sparse devise was packed. He proceeded to gorge.

===========================================================================

A glorious California summer Saturday two weeks later found Justin driving Storm Blaster with Shane, Cam, and Hunter as passengers with Tori following in her van with Blake and Dustin. Justin couldn’t help but smirk as the Ninja Rangers became obviously more excited as they neared their destination. Even normally stoic Cam was having a hard time containing himself. Noticing that, Justin was glad he had jokingly declared “homo car/hetero car,” because he was sure that Dustin was nearly jumping out of his skin and he wasn’t entirely sure that Blaster wouldn’t have ejected him.

They pulled off the interstate at the edge of town. There was a more direct route to their destination, but Justin couldn’t resist pointing out a landmark. “And here we are guys, welcome to Angel Grove,” Justin said, gesturing to the large sign flanking the road. A sign which read, “The Chamber of Commerce Welcomes You to ANGEL GROVE – Home of the ORIGINAL Power Rangers.”

Hunter snorted, “Original Power Rangers? Like we’re copycats or something?”

Justin laughed, “Well, we are kind of the town’s only real claim to fame.” Hunter shrugged, seeming mollified. 

They drove through town, Justin giving a bit of a tour as they drove; mainly focusing on the years he lived here and things about the town. From what he could see through the rearview, Dustin was apparently doing the same . . . although likely just focusing on Ranger events. They came to the other end of town and drove up to a huge gated home. Justin realized that his passengers had suddenly become very quiet. Justin looked at the three men and found them all staring somewhat slack-jawed at the gates and the house beyond. “Um, guys?” he broached.

Cam found his voice first, “It’s bigger than the Academy.”

Justin smirked, “Well, it has to be since it’s not just a home. This is also the headquarters for Billy’s company Azure Lupine.”

All three men asked, “Really?”

“Yeah,” Justin continued. “Since they mostly do high-level R&D, some of it being based on the alien technology and science Billy has picked up, he found it easier security wise to just have one site. It’s kind of set up like the White House; about a third of the house is living space, the rest is labs and offices, especially underground. And, the grounds provide some nice privacy for days like today. The walls generate an EM interference field. Drones literally drop out of the sky if they try to fly over.”

Cam nearly started salivating at that comment. Hunter’s hand went to his boyfriend’s thigh, “Socialization first, then tech.” Cam half glared, half pouted, prompting everyone to be laughing as they came to a stop next to a large stone and metal pillar featuring the logo of a howling blue wolf’s head and a recessed screen.  
Justin looked back at Hunter, “Well, the EM defenses made him drool, but this bit may seem a bit passé after Cyber-Cam.”

Before Justin could continue, the screen lit up and a slightly mechanical but warm . . . and somewhat indignant sounding . . . voice said, “While Cyber-Cam is an impressive AI, especially given the limited resources Master Wantanabe was working with, I am superior in nearly every way.”

Justin chuckled, “Hello Beta.”

“Hello Justin. Or, should I officially say Welcome Doctor Stewart?”

Justin grimaced, “Yeah, not really used to the title yet, and I still have a few more months before I start here officially.”

“Of course. And today is a social day, so Justin it is, as usual. And the Power traces I am detecting confirm that Shane, Hunter, and Cam are with you, and the vehicle behind Storm Blaster are Tori, Blake, and Dustin. Although . . . should Dustin’s adrenal levels be so high?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty normal for him,” Shane interjected.

Justin jumped in with, “And everyone,” he gestured to the screen, “this is Beta. They’re an AI Billy developed based on Alpha’s base code, able to manifest either like this, through one of several autonomous bodies, or as a holographic interface. They help Billy . . .”

Beta interjected, “Not die. By forgetting to eat. Or sleep. Or by blowing himself up. Or into another dimension. Basically, I assist Kat keeping her husband alive.”

Hunter leaned forward, “Oh hey, maybe you can help me upgrade Cyber-Cam for . . .” He was cut off as Cam wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s head.

Through his laughter, Justin said, “Talk about it later. Hey Beta, can we get in now?”

“Of course. Enjoy your day. I’ll see you inside,” Beta responded and then opened the gates.

The group drove in and parked. Once they were out of the car everyone forced Dustin to do a calming exercise before they went around the house to the back yard. Once there, they were greeted by a sea of people, each one strongly favoring one main color in their outfit. The gathered Ranger’s looked at the newcomers . . . and the Ninjas all stopped breathing.


	10. Rainbow Connection

Justin quickly realized that his new friends had frozen up when confronted by the sheer mass of former Rangers present at the reunion. Thankfully, no one would hold the fact that they could face down world-ending evil but not their predecessors against them . . . every team was like this at their first Reunion. He was trying to get them to relax so he could start introducing them around when Trini detached herself from the throng with Jason in tow, approached, and greeted them each warmly by name and formally introduced Jason, whom they had yet to meet in person. The original Yellow Ranger’s eternally placid and soothing demeanor, as well as already being someone familiar, seemed to snap everyone out of it. Except Shane, who seemed to become even more nervous having just been introduced to the original Red Ranger.

The gregarious half of the team; Dustin, Tori, and Blake, collected themselves the quickest and wandered down from the back patio onto the lawn to introduce themselves. As was something of a tradition, most of the original Rangers were the first to complete the ritual and started introducing the newcomers around. At that point Billy grabbed Angela and they came up and introduced themselves to Cam with Billy extending an offer of touring the labs. Cam was fine from that point forward. While all of this was going on Ryan, Eric, and Merrick appeared out of nowhere, as they tended to, and absconded with Hunter. Billy’s house had a massive gym on the third floor where the threesome would no doubt be taking Hunter to engage in what they called sparring and what everyone else called attempting to kill each other, just politely.

Shane stuck close to Justin and was clearly trying to not come off as overwhelmed as he was. Jason sensed this and kept well out of Shane’s personal space while also trying to engage in innocuous conversation; mainly about how Recovery was going for the ninjas since Trini didn’t feel at liberty to tell him much out of respect for the tradition of secrecy. Justin tried to take Shane’s hand, but the other young man tensed up and Justin realized what was going on. They were out of the bubble of the Academy and Shane’s small circle in Blue Bay, Cam and Hunter had wandered off, and so Shane was suddenly feeling extremely, self-consciously gay and surrounded by straight people.

At that point Tommy and Adam walked up, hand-in-hand in the most obvious way Justin had ever seen anyone do it outside of pictures of the Stonewall Riots and the early Gay Liberation marches. But then again, given their history as not only Rangers but as a race car driver and a stuntman respectively as well as their continued individual fighting prowess the Oliver-Parks had a “we dare you to have an issue” level that had resulted in even Divatox knowing that going after their relationship was an uncrossable line. She had almost said something once, back in the day, but the look Adam and Tommy gave her . . . through their visors no less . . . made the pirate Queen swallow her tongue.

As they approached smiling warmly it was like all the tension melted out of Shane. Suddenly Justin found relaxed fingers twined with his. Introductions were made, pleasantries exchanged, jokes about Tommy nearly getting blown up were made. However, just as they truly seemed to be settling into the day Tommy leaned forward and whispered, “Kim and Kat are distracted for the moment, but there’s no new Pink Ranger to keep them that way. We’ll cover Shane . . . run.”

The reality of the situation crashed into Justin as Shane looked confused. Justin gave him a quick kiss as Adam put a hand on the ninja’s shoulder and Justin bolted for the inside of the house. He figured he could hide out in one of the labs until somebody blew something up or one of the elder Reds nearly got himself killed showing off and then Kat would be distracted for a while again and Kim would jump in to help her resolve the situation. He was just about in the house when he nearly ran bodily into Beta in one of their bodies. “Ahh, Justin,” the AI announced far louder than was necessary, “Kat was looking for you!” The volume and her name immediately drew the former Pink Ranger’s attention.

Justin glared at the silver and blue replica of Alpha 5 that served as Beta’s physical form. “What did I ever do to you Beta?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Nothing,” they responded in a more conversational tone. “I am, however, part of the household of a Pink Ranger and unlike you, I have a sense of self-preservation.”

Justin shook his head. He couldn’t fault Beta for that. After Zordon’s three rules of being a Ranger, the unwritten fourth was “Don’t piss off a Pink Ranger.”

And just like that, they were behind him. Justin turned and favored the two women with a smile, “Kim. Mom. How are you?”

“Oh, we’re fine,” Kim responded, a gleam in her eye like an addict seconds from a fix.

“Yes,” Kat continued in her subtle accent, “we’re lovely. How about you . . . and Shane?”

Justin kept the smile plastered to his face as he sighed internally and submitted himself to interrogation.

After about an hour Shane finally found Justin on one of the side patios repeating the story of their first date for approximately the tenth time. After polite introductions Kim and Kat switched to some rather probing questions along the lines of his intentions towards Justin. Showing that the last hour hanging out with Jason, Tommy, and Adam may or may not have been a good thing Shane’s response was to pull Justin into a passionate embrace, look at the two women and ask, “Does that answer your question?” and to then ninja streak them both to the back lawn. It became the highlight of the party. It also earned Rocky an elbow to the solar plexus from Aisha when he kept calling Justin a damsel in distress.

As evening wore on and people started taking their leave Hunter, Eric, Ryan, and Merrick finally reappeared. All four men were bruised, bloodied, and grinning and giggling like maniacs. Dana sighed deeply and moved to make sure none of the four had any permanent damage, freezing her brother in place with a glare. Eric tried to sneak off, but a cross-armed Wes told him he had a choice between Dana and the medics at headquarters. Eric chose Dana. Merrick tried the same stunt but found every escape route blocked by one of his own teammates. Hunter never even got a chance as Dustin immediately piped up with, “Dude, we will totally narc you out to Cam and Sensei Omino.” 

The four submitted to Dana’s evaluations, looking all the while like chastised toddlers, and ultimately receiving diagnosis of, “Physically fine. Mentally, I’m not qualified to diagnosis what’s wrong with them,” from the Lightspeed CMO.

Once that was settled Kat raised her wrist, upon which sat a device resembling the old communicators, and said, “Beta?”

A hologram of the AI’s silver disk-like head appeared, “Yes Kat?”

“I assume Billy and the others are in one of the labs?”

“Yes. I made sure that they got food several hours ago. However, notifications that the evening was ending, and that people were starting to leave have not moved them. Permission to initiate the Kat Protocol?”

“Granted.”

Hunter, interested in the conversation since Cam was one of the people holed up in Billy’s labs asked, “What’s the Kat Protocol?”

Kat smiled grimly, “Something I developed with Beta to get Billy out of his lab. Main power gets shut off, leaving only emergency lights and the elevator. If Billy is not on that elevator after two minutes, the sprinklers kick on.”

Hunter’s expression showed that he had just found his new role model in life. “Could I get your number? You are definitely someone I need to talk to more often.”

Kat looked confused until Justin reminded her, “Hunter would be with Cam.”

At this point Kat brightened and responded, “Oh yes. I’ll add you to the group chat for all of us involved with Ranger geniuses. I just sent Shane an invite as well.”

Justin looked at his boyfriend, who proceeded to be fascinated by the grass and then looked at Kat, “I am nowhere near as bad as Billy!”

“Whatever you say Justin,” Kat responded, eliciting laughter from the those who knew him best. Kat continued, “But we can discuss all of that later. I insist you seven stay the night. I’ve already had Beta see to rooms.”


End file.
